America's great moral paragon, Colonel Charles Augustus Lindbergh, has again leaped to the front with one of those magnanimous and forthright gestures that have so endeared him to the hearts of his beloved countrymen. He has refused to take part in the army air investigation, despite the fact that he might gain much power and glory thereby. Still the simple modest lad that flew the Atlantic all by himself, he eschews the temptations of this life when to yield to them would be to sacrifice his faith. So he has--at what cost only he can know--remained true to the cause of justice and the aviation companies. If a wicked and paternalistic government is going to interfere in a business which has been going along very nicely and in which the promoters have been content with a comparatively small amount of graft, then Charlie for one is not going to have any relations with that government. It will simply have to get along without him as best it can; for he is made of sterner stuff than most men and his principles mean something to him. And if some sceptics wonder rather audibly just what the hell they do mean to him, he can always point to his spotless moral life, and to the comparative poverty in which he lives as incontrovertible evidence of the rigid way in which he holds to these high aims. There can, in view of all this, be no doubt that the Colonel has followed the only course he could and that in refusing to join the investigating committee he made a gesture that is as tactful and gracious as it is moral, a gesture befitting an officer and a gentleman.

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In the meantime we are treated to the edifying spectacle of the United States government expending great energy to harry and chase a sick and broken old man all over the face of Europe. Granting that Insult was guilty of a certain amount of fraud in his transactions--and the evidence on this point is by no means clear--he was certainly no more guilty than many of his colleagues, none of whom are behind bars as yet. It is also difficult to see just what will be accomplished by hauling Insult back to Chicago for trial, for if he received a prison sentence it would almost surely be a death sentence. The real crime of which Insull is guilty is not of fraudulently manipulating securities but of doing it unsuccessfully; and the energies of the government should not be concentrated on driving a sick man from pillar to post but on remedying the system of which he was merely a typical and unfortunate product.